Arrest: Samantha McCarthy (above) of Tampa, Florida is being held on suspicion of child neglect

A woman has been arrested in Florida after five children in her care were found as they tried to cross a highway on their own to go to a nearby amusement park.

Samantha McCarthy, 24, of Tampa, is being held on suspicion of child neglect as the children somehow got out of the room they were staying at in a Motel 6 while she was sleeping on Tuesday morning and began to make their way towards Weeki Wachee Springs State Park by crossing a highway.

A motorist managed to stop them before they entered the highway, and found that all fine, who were under the age of five, were in heavily soiled diapers and could not reveal who their parents were or where they had just come from.

NBC News reports that deputies were on the scene for 30 minutes before McCarthy finally approached them and said she had been watching the children.

She said that she had fallen asleep and that they must have sneaked out of the room.

In addition to their soiled diapers, police were also very concerned that the younger had a 'severe rash on various parts of her body' which they said appeared to have been there for weeks.

McCarthy said it had only been there for days and she planned to take the child to a doctor, but when police learned she had no car and had yet to make an appointment, they arrested her on the scene.